Editorials

[American Idol-izer] Top 5 Perform

We lost my post from last week thanks to some technical hiccups, so I'll do my best to catch you up to why I feel so awful about what went down this week. So Quentin Alexander, one of my favorites from the get go thanks to his interesting style and vocal talents, seemed to be fighting against the AI system when he got into a verbal match with Harry Connick Jr. It wasn't as bad as the producers claimed as Quentin merely said the thought of one of his close friends going home sucked, but they just wouldn't let it go. As history dictates, American Idol voters usually don't vote for contestants that speak back to the judges. They don't like what seem to be confrontational people. But the worst part of it all, is that the producers clearly wanted Quentin to go home and were bending the show this week in the others' favor.

After weeks of captivating performances, Quentin was unceremoniously sent home. That altercation recived more attention than anything else this season, and producers wanted to make sure Quentin got sent home before he got into the Top 5, and was allowed on AI's ever shrinking Summer Tour. From replaying the altercation clip, to repeating Rayvon's performance once it was assured he was in the bottom two, to showering praise on the other contestants despite major, major flubs, Quentin sang first in both #IdolSave performances rather than in alternating order like with Joey Cook last week, and Ryan even claimed Quentin said he "gave up" after Rayvon's final performance.

It was just all around ugly. Let's get to everyone else during an "Arena Anthems" week that only had a few songs that'd qualify.

by Nick Valdez

[American Idol-izer] Top 6 Perform

This was an intense week. At this point in the competition, stuff gets very complicated. Contestants start singing more than once, and now with the extra #IdolSave rule this year, they call it Top 7 night as they include the eliminated contestant's final performance. It was just a weird, weird night. Especially so for the poor eliminated finalist who now knows that they have to perform for the save about 45 minutes into the show. Then they have to drag themselves around for two whole performances in the hope that America likes them enough to vote on Twitter for them. For that reason, I can understand why we might need to use #SaveQuentin next week.

You see, right after Quentin Alexander found out he was the last person safe for the week, he had a sour face after his performance (which I'll get to in a bit). When Ryan asked him about it, Quentin said "This sucks. We have two of the best vocalists [in the bottom (Joey Cook and Rayvon Owen)]. My best friend [Joey Cook] is sitting there. This whole thing is wack. But I’m going to shut up right now." It was awkward, and totally what American Idol is made for. He's just an emotional kid, who's even officiating Cook's wedding, and he was sad more than angry over the show itself. It's obvious he knew someone has to go home every week. But Harry Connick Jr. was not having any of that.

Right before the commercial break, Connick blurted "Quentin, if it’s that wack, then you can always go home, because Idol is paying a lot of money to give you this experience. And for you to say that to this hand that’s feeding you, I think that’s highly disrespectful." Quentin, getting a chance to defend himself, approached the judges' table aggressively but politely noted "When I said that this was wack… it sucks to see two people that I’ve grown to love go home. That’s what I mean by it being wack. So I’m not disrespecting this competition… I’m glad I got to clarify it for you." Holy moley. Quentin's probably going home. AI has a track record of sending contestants that talk back to the judges home the next week.

And that set the tone for rest of the evening. This week's theme was the broad "American Classics" where the first song was supposedly chosen by America and the second all their own. It only got weirder from here.

by Nick Valdez